Rodgers blew up real good in 2011, and unless your league played its title game
in Week 17—when Matt Flynn replaced Rodgers and set a franchise record for TD
passes—he was quite likely your MVP. The Packers still don’t have a running
game to speak of, and their stable of receivers won’t miss a beat with Randall
Cobb and Tori Gurley ready to step in when Donald Driver hangs it up. In other
words, Rodgers should remain a dominant fantasy quarterback for the
foreseeable future.

Drew Brees - NOS

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 2

Keeper: 2Auction 10: 20%Auction 12: 22%

2009

NOS

15

363

514

4388

34

11

22

33

2

2010

NOS

16

448

658

4620

33

22

18

-3

2011

NOS

16

468

657

5476

46

14

21

86

1

Avg

16

426

610

4828

38

16

20

39

1

Proj

NOS

4920

42

14

80

1

Brees may have had a slightly contentious contract situation
but there is no denying what he has done since landing in New
Orleans. For the last six seasons, Brees has never throw for
fewer than 4388 yards or 26 touchdowns and comes off his
career mark of 5476 yards and 46 scores - good enough to
shatter the all-time mark for yardage and actually his second
time over the 5000 yard mark. He has averaged 4732 yards and
34 touchdowns while a Saint and he just keeps getting better
and better. At the age of 33, he still has several more years
of high production before age should have any affect. As fate
would have it, Brees is faced with one of the lighter
schedules in the NFL this year which includes a trip through
the AFC West. There are also plenty of reasons to assume that
the Saints defense is not going to perform as well this year.
That should only force Brees into more passing situations and
there have been no upgrades to the rushing attack. Assuming
the contract situations is resolved to his satisfaction,
Brees should be in line for yet another nice season. The wins
and losses may be different, but the passing stats should
always remain high.

07-13-12 Update: Signed for $100 million. 5 years. No dissatisfaction here.

Tom Brady - NEP

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 3

Keeper: 4Auction 10: 20%Auction 12: 22%

2009

NEP

16

371

565

4398

28

13

29

44

1

2010

NEP

16

324

492

3900

36

4

31

30

1

2011

NEP

16

401

611

5235

39

12

43

109

3

Avg

16

365

556

4511

34

10

34

61

2

Proj

NEP

4490

37

12

90

1

His holiness Tom is a lock for a great season when healthy
and even a bad year for him is better than almost any other
QB. He's coming off his astronomic 5239 yards season with a
second best 39 passing scores during the pass-happy days of
2011. Brady is 35 and entering his 13th season so at some
point he will start to decline but 2012 is not a concern
since he never runs and takes fewer hits than most. What is
germane is that the Patriots have one of the tougher passing
schedules in the NFL this year and one that is significantly
more challenging than 2011 when he delighted fans in each AFC
West match-up. Until Brady shows any signs of slowing down,
he has to be considered a top 3 QB who always delivers.
Perhaps no QB will roll up scores like Brady and with that
comes fantasy wins. One more caveat to his production - the
Pats have perhaps their best backfield in many years.

Tier Two

Matthew Stafford - DET

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 4

Keeper: 3Auction 10: 18%Auction 12: 20%

2009

DET

10

201

377

2267

13

20

20

108

2

2010

DET

3

57

96

535

6

1

4

11

1

2011

DET

16

421

663

5038

41

16

22

78

Avg

10

226

379

2613

20

12

15

66

1

Proj

DET

4500

37

18

70

1

Apparently all Stafford needed to do was to remain healthy
for an entire season. After two seasons cut short by various
ailments, Stafford exploded in 2011 with 5038 passing yards
and 41 touchdowns. He went from being a marginal player with
injury problems to being an elite in just one season. This
schedule this year is somewhat more difficult than last year
but he does return all the same offensive players to help him
including the incomparable Calvin Johnson. They also added
2.22 pick WR Ryan Broyles from Oklahoma but spent their first
round pick on the offensive line - another good thing.
Stafford doesn't yet have the track record of the other
elites - Brady, Brees, Rodgers and Manning - but he's already
produced as well as any. One season doesn't mean he is past
the injury problems as well but Stafford delivered huge for
those who believed in him last year.

Cam Newton - CAR

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 5

Keeper: 5Auction 10: 16%Auction 12: 15%

2009

2010

2011

CAR

16

310

517

4051

21

17

126

706

14

Avg

16

310

517

4051

21

17

126

706

14

Proj

CAR

3500

23

12

500

8

The 706 rushing yards weren’t a surprise, and while the 14 rushing scores was
more than expected it wasn’t as if Newton didn’t enter the league with a track
record of ground success. But blowing Peyton Manning’s rookie passing record
out of the water? Didn’t see that one coming, not with the Panthers’ offensive
philosophy and dearth of pass-catching talent after Steve Smith. Newton’s
encore might involve fewer rushing scores—why risk your franchise QB at the
stripe when you have a stable of backs like Carolina does—and his receivers
didn’t receive much of an upgrade. But flip it around: that just means the offense
once again flows through Newton, and as of yet the league hasn’t demonstrated
the ability to cap this gusher.

Matt Ryan - ATL

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 6

Keeper: 6Auction 10: 8%Auction 12: 10%

2009

ATL

14

263

451

2916

22

14

30

49

1

2010

ATL

16

357

571

3705

28

9

46

122

2011

ATL

16

347

566

4177

29

12

37

84

2

Avg

15

322

529

3599

26

12

38

85

1

Proj

ATL

4300

33

14

50

1

(+Upside) Have to love Matt Ryan this year. He already comes off a
career best mark of 4177 yards and 29 touchdowns last season
and has an even better schedule for 2012. The addition of
Julius Jones has allowed one more nice weapon for Ryan who
still hopes to see Tony Gonzalez provide a meaningful role as
well. Ryan was among the most consistent quarterbacks in 2011
with 13 games featuring 300 passing yards and/or two
touchdowns. The rushing attack is likely to be slightly less
effective this year with Michael Turner hitting 30 years of
age and yet without any notable backup. Ryan makes for a
great pick once the elite quarterbacks are taken and yet
could end up out producing many of them.

Eli Manning - NYG

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 7

Keeper: 7Auction 10: 8%Auction 12: 10%

2009

NYG

16

317

509

4021

27

14

17

65

2010

NYG

16

339

539

4002

31

25

32

70

2011

NYG

16

359

589

4933

29

16

35

15

1

Avg

16

338

546

4319

29

18

28

50

0

Proj

NYG

4600

30

12

50

Remember prior to the 2011 season when Eli had the audacity to say he
considered himself among the league’s best quarterbacks? Twenty-nine TDs,
4,933 yards and a second Super Bowl ring would seem to back up that assertion.
The 900-plus yard jump in Manning’s career-best passing yards, thanks in no
small part to a career-high 589 attempts, also elevated Manning from fantasy
plug-in to the cusp of the elite. Manning loses his QB coach to the Bucs but
keeps a talented corps of receivers with Rueben Randle and Martellus Bennett
stepping in for Mario Manningham and the Giants’ injured tight ends—as if
Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz needed help. Even Eli would find it tough to
proclaim himself the best fantasy quarterback, but there’s nothing wrong with
settling for pretty doggone good.

Ben Roethlisberger - PIT

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 8

Keeper: 8Auction 10: 6%Auction 12: 10%

2009

PIT

15

337

506

4328

26

12

40

82

2

2010

PIT

12

240

389

3200

17

5

34

176

2

2011

PIT

15

324

513

4077

21

14

31

70

Avg

14

300

469

3868

21

10

35

109

1

Proj

PIT

4400

27

15

70

2

The difference between Big Ben being a legit fantasy starter as he’s been in
recent seasons and last year’s relatively pedestrian showing is a complete lack of
rushing scores after at least two each of the previous six years. Everything else
with Roethlisberger’s game was fine, including a career-high 513 pass attempts.
Don’t bank on the rushing scores to return, but a consistent 500-plus attempts
and 4,000-plus yards puts Big Ben right back in the fantasy starter mix.

Tony Romo - DAL

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 9

Keeper: 9Auction 10: 6%Auction 12: 8%

2009

DAL

16

347

550

4483

26

9

35

105

1

2010

DAL

6

148

213

1605

11

7

6

38

2011

DAL

16

346

522

4184

31

10

22

46

1

Avg

13

280

428

3424

23

9

21

63

1

Proj

DAL

4180

29

12

60

2

Romo comes off a nice season with 4184 yards and 31
touchdowns but it just followed his odd trend. In odd-
numbered years - '07, '09 and '11 - he passed for around 4200
yards and 30 touchdowns or so. But in even number years, he
has been injured and fallen well short of that mark. And this
is an even-numbered season. Romo will also be missing Laurent
Robinson (54-858, 11 TD) but will aim to get Miles Austin
back to his previous form. The schedule is nothing special
and the Cowboys have almost all the same returning offensive
players. But Romo will have to have his first decent season
in an even-numbered year and the Cowboys could have an
improved ground game if DeMarco Murray can remain healthy.
Romo is worth the risk because he has been a top quarterback
in three different seasons but there could be the chance you
need to wait until 2013 for his trend to continue.

Tier Three

Philip Rivers - SDC

YEAR

TM

GMS

CMP

ATT

PYD

PTD

INT

CAR

RYD

RTD

Huddle Rank: 10

Keeper: 10Auction 10: 6%Auction 12: 8%

2009

SDC

16

317

486

4254

28

9

26

50

1

2010

SDC

16

357

541

4710

30

13

29

52

2011

SDC

16

366

582

4624

27

20

26

36

1

Avg

16

347

536

4529

28

14

27

46

1

Proj

SDC

4580

27

15

50

Rivers has been rock-solid consistent, posting a fourth consecutive season
averaging 21-plus fantasy points per game. He’s done it without Vincent Jackson
before, and now he’ll get to do it full-time. He will have new target Robert
Meachem and a healthier Antonio Gates at his disposal, as well as emerging
talents Malcom Floyd and Vincent Brown. That elite monster season isn’t likely to
come, but there’s nothing wrong with confidently penciling in fringe top-5
numbers at the QB position.